The United States is cutting more than $200 million in aid to the Palestinians, the State Department said on Friday, amid a deteriorating relationship with the Palestinian leadership. A senior State Department official said without elaborating that the funds, originally planned for programs in the West Bank and Gaza, would address “high-priority projects elsewhere.”…The announcement came at a time when the Palestinian leadership has angered the White House by boycotting its peace efforts since President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved the embassy there, reversing decades of U.S. policy. READ MORE

ARUTZ SHEVA Bolton: We will de-fund the UN Human Rights CouncilU.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Thursday that the United States intends to cut funding to the UN Human Rights Council from which it withdrew in June. “We are going to de-fund the Human Rights Council,” Bolton told The Associated Press in an interview, while warning that other UN agencies could also be up for cuts in U.S. funding.